At least 60 people have been killed in Gaza in some of the heaviest Israeli strikes in weeks, as the besieged strip endures relentless bombardment in the 20-month war.
The Israeli military issued evacuation orders on Monday to residents in large districts in the northern Gaza Strip, forcing a new wave of displacement.
At least 30 people were killed and dozens were wounded after the airstrike on Al-Baqa Cafe in Gaza City, the emergency and ambulance service in Northern Gaza said.
Women, children and a local journalist were among those killed in the strike, medics said.
Fares Awad, the head of the ambulance service, said many of the wounded were in critical condition.
The cafe, one of the few businesses to continue operating during the war, was a gathering spot for residents seeking internet access and a place to charge their phones.
Videos on social media showed bloodied and disfigured bodies on the ground and the wounded being carried away in blankets.
Israeli tanks also pushed into the eastern areas of Zeitoun suburb in Gaza City and shelled several areas in the north, while aircraft bombed at least four schools after ordering hundreds of families sheltering inside to leave, residents said.
At least 58 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday, health authorities said, including 10 people killed in Zeitoun and at least 13 killed southwest of Gaza City.
The Israeli military said it struck militant targets in northern Gaza, including command and control centers. The military claims to have taken steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.
The bombardment followed new evacuation orders to vast areas in the north, where Israeli forces had operated before and left behind wide-scale destruction.
The military ordered people there to head south, saying that it planned to fight Hamas militants operating in northern Gaza, including in the heart of Gaza City.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was expected to convene to discuss the next steps in Gaza.
Israel’s military chief said on Friday the present ground operation was close to having achieved its goals, and on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu said new opportunities had opened up for recovering the hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
A Hamas official said that progress on any ceasefire depends on Israel changing its position and agreeing to end the war and withdraw from Gaza.
Israel says it can end the war only when Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said Israel has agreed to a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage deal, and put the onus on Hamas.
The proposed US ceasefire stipulates Hamas must release half the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the remains of other Palestinians. Hamas would then release the remaining hostages as part of a deal that guarantees ending the war.
The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on 7 October 2023, killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza.
Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry, displaced almost the whole 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.
